Police identify body of Armada teen

Sheriff deputies finish up temporarily with their investigation at the site where 14 year old April Millsap's body was found. (RAY SKOWRONEK/THE MACOMB DAILY)

Authorities have identified a female whose body was found Thursday night on the Macomb Orchard Trail in northern Macomb County as April Millsap, 14, of Armada.

She was reported missing around 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Her parents told investigators she would walk the family dog along the trail regularly around 5 p.m. many days. When she didn’t return home doing so Thursday evening, they became worried and called police.

Millsap, who attended Armada Middle School, was set to attend the district high school as a freshman this fall.

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At a Friday afternoon press conference in front of the village police department, Armada Police Chief Howard Smith and Lt. Michael Shaw of the Michigan State Police revealed the teen’s name and some of the details of what they are classifying as a murder investigation.

After confirming a Friday autopsy revealed no signs of sexual assault to the body, Smith went on to say investigators are convinced the teen was a homicide victim. When asked about the presence of any signs of trauma, Smith responded: “Not in the sense of gun shots or knife wounds. I don’t want to get into that. The family has just been notified.”

Shaw went on to say by withholding the exact cause of death, police are hoping not to provide information that would allow the killer or killers to develop an alibi.

“When we find the individuals responsible, we want to be able to compare statements,” he said.

A couple traversing the trail noticed the dog by a wooded area near Fulton and Depot roads in Armada as they walked it around 8 p.m. Thursday. When they made their way back by the same area at 8:19 p.m., they found it odd that the pet, a border collie, was in the same place as before. Upon further examination, they realized the dog was guarding the girl’s body, which had been left in a drainage ditch.

Police are looking for a long, gray box van that was seen in the area of the crime scene. It is described as a painter’s type van that eyewitnesses said had dents all over it and a picture of it was provided to authorities by an individual who was in the area around the time of the discovery.

Shaw added that as of midday on Friday, investigators had received “hundreds” of tips about similar vans.

“We want to encourage whoever was driving that van to come forward,” he said. “Maybe they were just on a painting job in Armada. We need to know that so we can check them off the list.”

Police said the van was occupied by two white males. It has not been determined what role the vehicle may play in this investigation.

Meanwhile, they anticipated a canvas of Armada village and possibly neighboring communities, with village officers, state troopers, sheriff deputies and Federal Bureau of Investigations personnel working in concert.

The Armada Area Schools planned to have grief counselors on hand at Armada Middle School from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Smith stated that while many in the Armada community are on edge after hearing about this possible homicide, he is not concerned about having a killer or killers at large.

“We believe that this was an isolated incident. We don’t believe that there is any immediate danger to the public.” Howard said.

Township Supervisor John Paterek was at his mold shop, just a few blocks from where Millsap’s body was found Thursday night and saw the response from local and state agencies.

“There were a lot of capable officers in place to figure this thing out,” he said. “There were helicopters and police personnel on scene very quickly.”

“This is devastating for us as much as it is for the family,” he said. “You just don’t understand what some people are capable of sometimes, but if this is a young teen as we are hearing right now, it is even more heartbreaking.”

Anyone with any information regarding this case is asked to contact Michigan State Police at 877-616-4677 or www.michigan.gov/michtip.

While Smith said there has not been a murder investigation in the village since he took over as police chief seven years ago, one happened in neighboring Armada Township in 2009 when Dorothy Marie Cezik was kidnapped and killed. Her body was found along the Macomb Orchard Trail a few miles east and Timothy Kyle Prince, a neighbor, was eventually convicted of murdering her.